The Kerala Shops And Commercial Establishments Act, 1960

Summary

The Kerala Shops and Establishments Act, and Rules, are applicable to all the shops and commercial establishments in the whole of the Kerala State.

The Act is enacted for the purpose of protecting the rights of employees. The Act provides regulations of the payment of wages, terms of services, work hours, rest intervals, overtime work, opening and closing hours, closed days, holidays, leaves, maternity leave and benefits, work conditions, rules for employment of children, records maintenance, etc.

Definitions

Commercial Establishment means a commercial or industrial or trading or banking or insurance establishment, an establishment or administrative service in which the persons employed are mainly engaged in office work, hotel, restaurant, boarding or eating house, café or any other refreshment house, a theatre or any other place of public amusement or entertainment and includes such other establishment as the Government may, by notification in the Gazette, declare to be a commercial establishment for the purposes of this Act, but does not include a factory to which all or any of the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948 apply;

Establishment means a shop or a commercial establishment;

Shop means any premises where any trade or business is carried on or where services are rendered to customers, and includes offices, store-rooms, godowns or warehouses, whether in the same premises or otherwise, used in connection with such trade or business but does not include a commercial establishment or a shop attached to a factory where the persons employed in the shop are allowed the benefits provided for workers under the Factories Act, 1948.

Registration

The employer of every establishment shall make an application to such authority as the Government may by notification in the Gazette, specify in this behalf (in this Chapter referred to as the “competent authority”),in such form and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed, for a registration certificate in respect of that establishment.

An application as stated above shall be made within sixty days from the date of commencement of this section: Provided that in the case of an establishment started after the commencement of this section, such application shall be made within sixty days from the date on which the establishment commences its work.

The application shall specify the following particulars, namely:-

• the name of the employer and the manager, if any;
• the postal address of the establishment;
• the name, if any, of the establishment;
• the category of the establishment, that is to say whether it is a shop or a
• commercial establishment;
• the number and names of employees employed in the establishment;
• such other particulars as may be prescribed.

On receipt of an application, the competent authority shall, if it is satisfied that the application is in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder, register the establishment and issue to the employer a registration certificate in the prescribed form which shall be conclusive evidence that such establishment is duly registered under this Act.

A registration certificate granted under this Act shall not be valid beyond the year in which it is granted but may be renewed from year to year.

An application for the renewal of a registration certificate granted under this Act shall be made at least thirty days before the expiry of the period thereof, on payment of such fees as may be prescribed and where such an application has been made, the registration certificate shall be deemed to continue notwithstanding the expiry of the period thereof until the renewal of the registration certificate or as the case may be, rejection of the application for the renewal thereof.

The competent authority shall not grant or renew a registration certificate unless it is satisfied that the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder have been substantially complied with.

The competent authority may after giving the holder of a registration certificate granted or renewed under this Act, an opportunity of being heard, by order cancel or suspend the registration certificate, if it appears to it that such registration certificate has been obtained by mis-representation or fraud or that the employer has contravened or failed to comply with any of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder.

Exemptions

Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to-

• persons employed in any establishment in a position of management;
• persons whose work mainly involves traveling, and persons employed as canvassers and caretakers and whose names do not appear in the muster rolls;
• establishments under the Central or any State Government, local authorities, the Reserve Bank of India and cantonment authorities;
• establishment in mines and oil fields;
• establishments in bazaars in places where fairs or festivals are held temporarily
• for a period not exceeding fifteen days at a time;
• establishments which, not being factories within the meaning of the Factories Act, 1948 are in respect of matters dealt with in this Act, governed by a separate law for the time being in force in the State of Kerala.

Compliances

References

• Kerala Shops and Establishments Act, 1960 & Amendments
• Kerala Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Act, 2018
• Kerala Shops and Establishments (Amendment) Rules, 1988
• FAQs - Kerala Shops & Commercial Establishment Act
• Kerala Shops And Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014
• Declaration of paid holiday on account of Legislative Assembly Election 2021 dated 30 March 2021
• Kerala Shops and Commercial Establishments Workers Welfare Fund Board